"I see Loki." Heimdall reported.

"Did I not tell you Loki was alive?" Frigga reminded them. "I could feel it."

"He is on Earth, attacking a SHIELD base: the humans there possess the Tesseract, and he means to take it by force."

"So he seeks revenge on me by attacking the realm I have sworn to protect!" Thor assumed.

"That is a bold assumption, Thor." Frigga chided. "What makes you think your brother seeks revenge? The Tesseract is Asgardian, property of your father, is it not? Perhaps he is retrieving it from Midgard and bringing it here to aid us?"

"It doesn't seem that way, Mother. Regardless, we are in dire need of a way back to Earth!"

"We are indeed, yet the Bifrost remains inoperable, so there is no way for us to return, unless we had the Tesseract ourselves." Heimdall explained.

"…There is one way." Odin corrected him. "I could send you to Earth, my son, via use of dark magic, but it will exhaust us both terribly, and I am afraid it will be a one-way trip until you recover the Tesseract."

"Father…"

"Send me!" Frigga quickly volunteered. "I'm his mother: I have the greatest chance of convincing him to give me the Tesseract and return home with me. I am sorry to say this, Thor, but if you go, the two of you are likely to fight again. He's been lost, hidden from our sight for a year now, and we don't know the full situation, so this operation needs to be handled with gentleness, delicacy, and tact."

"Frigga, we don't know if you'll survive the dark magic, and what if he is hostile to you as well!?" Odin argued. "Like you said, we don't know what has happened to him in the past year; he may have changed into something monstrous for all we know!"

"He is NOT a monster, Odin, he is our son, and I strongly feel he needs my help! I was correct in him being alive: you must trust me on this! Besides, I am no stranger to the ill effects of magic; I will survive, for the sake of bringing our son home to us!"

Odin sighed. "As you wish. Be very careful, my wife, and return to us quickly." He channeled the dark magic into his wife, and she was transported to Earth in the pitch black of night.

Frigga used her natural magic to heal herself and got up, looking for signs of her son. She lit up her hands with green energy to illuminate the area around her as she searched.

"Heimdall, where is Loki?"

"He is sitting in the back of a vehicle they call a Jeep, wielding a Chitauri scepter with a glowing blue stone. He is 132 miles northeast of you, heading east."

"Thank you." Frigga walked along the road until she noticed a car passing by, and she stopped the driver, her glowing green hands getting his attention. "Forgive me, but I need you to take me to my son in the Jeep over 130 miles to the northeast." She placed a hand on his head, her enchantment forcing his help. "Please understand, it is an emergency!"

As Clint Barton, Dr. Selvig, and the other brainwashed agent drove Loki toward their hideout, they noticed a car speed up alongside them, illuminated by green magic.

"LOKI!"

Barton grabbed for his gun, but Loki promptly shot it out of his hand with his scepter. "Don't! That is my mother, you cretin! Stop the vehicle at once!" Barton did as he said, and Loki ran out to meet his mother, who did the same.

She hugged him tightly, not letting go as she kissed Loki all over his face.

"Mother, not in front of my brainwashed men!"

"Loki, look at you, you look dreadful! Are you ill?" She felt his forehead, wiping off the sweat with her handkerchief. "You're burning up, Loki; what has happened to you?"

"I'll be fine, Mother! There is something I need to do here."

Frigga snatched the scepter from her son's hand and put a cold press on top of his head. "The only thing you need to do is to rest, Loki! Now let's lay you down until we can get you to a proper bed!" She put a hand on his back to help him, but he winced in pain. "Loki, does that hurt you?"

"Motherrrr, I-I'm fine-"

Ignoring his protests, she turned to Loki's mind-controlled humans. "You three, help me lay him on his front!" Startled to action, they helped Loki down while Frigga removed his jacket and lifted his shirt, and she gasped as she saw painful looking burns and gashes on his back. "LOKI!?" Tears dripped from her eyes. "Loki, you- wh-who… what did this to you?" Loki looked away, afraid to tell her anything. "Please tell me."

"I can't: I can't risk him coming after you. Odin brought you here with dark magic, didn't he?! You must return home!"

Frigga then turned to her driver. "You may return to whence you came. Thank you so much for your kind assistance. Loki, I can return us to Asgard, but I will need the Tesseract to do so. May I have it?"

"I'm sorry, Mother, I need these mortals to unlock its secrets before I can open up a portal back to Asgard, and after that I will need to take the Tesseract from you once more."

"Why, Son? Is the monster who tortured you threatening you for it?" She questioned. Loki squeezed his eyes shut and turned away from her again. "Well, first we need to get you somewhere more comfortable!"

As they reached their destination, Frigga laid Loki down in one of the beds and tucked him in while the scientists worked on the Tesseract. She laid a handful of Asgardian healing stones she brought on her son's back and gave him some cold water to drink. "Now don't you move; I'm going to make you some chicken soup!"

"Mother, I'm not an ailing child!"

But she had already gone up to Barton and Selvig. "Excuse me, gentlemen, but where are stove and the soup pot?"

"Uh… I don't think there are any."

She shook her head. "Poor helpless mortals... then we must procure some at the market, along with some groceries! Come, quickly!"

She dragged Barton and a few of his men to the nearby Roxxcart, where they gathered a nutritious assortment of vegetables. After they found a pot, ladle, and bowls, she suddenly drew her bow and arrows and approached one of the store employees.

"Pardon me, shopkeeper, you where do we hunt the wild game here?" Frigga asked.

"Huh!?"

"There's no shooting arrows allowed in here." Barton told her. "Trust me."

"There's not? Then how do we hunt the animals for the meat?"

"They're... they're already dead, ma'am." The employee told her. "The meat is in the frozen and refrigerated sections; you just go and grab it."

"Really? And here I thought mortals were backwards, but they make it so easy for you here!"

Frigga then picked out a fresh pack of chicken and some fresh artisan bread. Her escorts carried them back to the base, and Frigga promptly began cooking.

She then brought a big bowl of soup, a loaf of buttered bread, and a glass of ice water. "Eat, my son, and allow your strength to be restored."

"I told you, Mother, I am fine! I'm not starving or anything!"

"Are you sure?"

Loki nodded, but his stomach growled loudly, promptly proving him a liar. He then took it, a bit embarrassed to be coddled so much, but he also enjoyed her kind attention to him and appreciated the trouble she went through for him, so he ate. "Thank you, Mother."

"Your full recovery is thanks enough for a worried mother. If there is anything you need of me, I will be right here until we return home together."

A while after she slipped out, however, Barton slipped in to talk to Loki. "Boss, Selvig says we need iridium to power the Tesseract, and then we can utilize it to its full potential."

"Ah, wonderful news."

"But there's also something concerning I noticed, regarding your mom…"

Loki sat up in concern. "Concerning how?"

"I don't know if it's all the work she's been doing, or her trip here from Asgard, or both, but she often has to sit when she's out of your line of sight, and she appears unnaturally exhausted."

"The dark magic!" Loki gasped in realization. "Odin, if she's suffering under the ill effects of your spell, I will never forgive you!" He wearily rushed to his mother's side as she caught her breath. "Mother, don't strain yourself any further! You need more rest than I, but fret not, as we are close to unlocking the full power of the Tesseract! Now, let me make you some warm soup until you feel better!"

As Loki fed his mom the soup he made, his scepter suddenly began to glow, and he excused himself to transport his consciousness to realm of Sanctuary, where a monstrous being called The Other awaited a progress report.

"We're close, we only need to gather a substance called iridium, and we can open the portal."

"Is that all you require?" He mocked. "You don't need your blanket or a bottle of milk from Mommy, or to be burped?"

"You would dare mock me in such a manner when you need my help to get here?! Perhaps I should torture you for a few months and see how quickly you recover!"

"He is running out of patience with you, and he wants the Tesseract now!"

"Where is he?" Frigga interjected, joining the private conversation with her magic. "Where is the monster who tortured my son!?"

"I do not answer to-"

Frigga quickly appeared in his face. "WHERE!?" He recoiled slightly in shock, but he refused to tell her. She scowled at him. "We will find out, one way or another."

"...As I said, just bring the Tesseract, and we will win you the Earth. You think you know pain, Asgardian? If you fail us, if you keep the Tesseract from him, he will find you, and you will long for something as sweet as pain!"

"I will, I assure you." Loki replied.

After he broke the connection, The Other winced. "She's scary... reminds me of my mother!"

Loki returned to his allies. "So, how do we acquire this iridium?"

"We don't need it." Frigga suddenly claimed. "We can open the portal without it."

"What? How, Mother?"

"With our own magic, amplified by that scepter... may I see it?" Loki handed her the tool, and with their combined powers, they opened up a portal together. However...

Loki scrunched his face. "Hold on... this is a portal to-" But the Einherjar on the other side quickly grabbed him and brought him to the Asgardian throne room.

"Be gentle with him: he has been through Hel!" Frigga wearily ordered. "I'm sorry, Loki, but you'll be safer at home!"

Loki shook his head. "Help my mother first!"

When they reached the throne room, Thor rushed to see his brother while Odin kept his watchful eye on him from his seat.

"Ah, you've returned with both the Tesseract and Loki, just as you said." Odin commended. "Well done, Frigga."

"And what of Earth?" Thor asked. "Are the people there safe?"

"I missed you too, Brother." Loki sassed. He then glared at Odin. "And you... how could you so thoughtlessly expose your own wife to dark magic!? Look at her, she's exhausted herself!"

"She has exhausted herself on YOUR BEHALF!" Odin shouted. "Frigga volunteered to take on so much dark magic to bring YOU back here, in spite of your crimes against both realms!"

"Aaand here comes the condescending comparison to Thor..."

"Fortunately, Frigga also brought us back the Tesseract, so we can fix the Bifrost, and my true son can repair the chaos that you have caused! I at least know he won't disappoint me."

"And there it is."

"Father, Loki is still my brother and your son, no matter where he came from: you know this!" Thor argued. "Besides, I am the one who destroyed the Rainbow Bridge, and without Loki's return, the Tesseract would remain on Midgard. I think it's only fair that he and I fix this mess together!" Thor paused. "But, on the subject of Midgard..."

"I didn't check on your sweetheart, but without the Tesseract there to attract any hostile attention, they're in no real danger." Frigga assured him. "As for your brother, he could use some kind reassurance: as I told the guards, he's had a rough year. I also found out who tortured Loki into submission and gave him the Chitauri scepter, courtesy of the Tesseract's visons: the Mad Titan Thanos!"

"Tortured!?" Thor repeated. "Father, do you know of this monster?"

Odin nodded. "Heimdall has seen this Thanos and his army invade world after world, wiping out half of their populations in a misguided attempt to bring balance to the universe."

"And now the Earth is next on his list! We must stop him before he can strike!"

"I will task Heimdall with finding him. For now, you must keep getting stronger, my son, or you'll be no match for him."

"For now, we must protect our younger son from Thanos!" Frigga added. "So no more fighting between you two, understood?"

"Yes mother." The two brother simultaneously replied.

"And Odin, Thor speaks truth in regards to Loki: you have given Thor a second chance to prove himself after restarting the war with Jotunheim, so giving Loki that same chance after only bothering a few mortals seems more than fair, and he will always be family, no matter what! Besides, Thanos tortured him physically, mentally, and emotionally already, so he certainly doesn't deserve any more punishment, especially from his own family!"

"Loki, is this true?" Odin asked, finally showing some decent fatherly concern. Loki very hesitantly nodded, and Thor resolutely grimaced. "Then I must become stronger and stronger until I can stop this madman and protect you!"

Frigga then glared at her husband. "So you stop piling any more torture on Loki than he's already endured, or you're sleeping in the stables with Sleipnir!"

Odin stifled a gulp. "...As you wish."

And so, the Odinson brothers reconciled, working together to help those across the realms and become stronger in the process. Odin tasked the dwarves with crafting weapons and armor for them, to prepare to fight Thanos and his army. As for Frigga, she was just happy her family was back together.